Losing Mzee Kato

The first day I arrived in Kampala I attended a salsa dance class with my Canadian colleague Carolyn which was part of a couch surfing event (couch surfing is a community in which people invite travelers to stay on their couch (or beds) while they are in town). It was my first time attempting salsa dance and I was quite amused by the Mzee (swahili for old man) who took my hand and made sure that I got the footing and timing right.

I didn't like salsa as much a swing dancing and was a bit reluctant to venture out on my own so I didn't return to salsa for another month, but after that I began to attend regularly on Thursdays and Saturdays. As it happened Mzee Kato was the head teacher of the salsa lessons at Lotus Mexicana, a Mexican Restaurant owned by an American, and would take me from barley knowing the steps to being able to social dance with some degree of proficiency. Although his English wasn't great, his passion for dancing always shone through and as I got to know him I realized how experienced of a dancer he was. He was also the only Ugandan I've met who actually knew how to swing dance.

On a Thursday night about two weeks ago the Mzee was not leading the lesson, but instead arrived late and watched sitting down which was quite unusual for the spunky 88 year old. One of the other instructors, and my friend, Musa explained that Mzee Kato was sick and needed money for his medication. Knowing that medication costs are relatively low here I quietly inquired about how much he needed and provided the funds. He thanked me repeatedly then and on his way out. Although Mzee Kato looked ill he was walking around and interacting with people and so I assumed since he had the money for the medicine he needed that he would recover. So you can imagine my surprise when two days later my friends called to tell me that he had passed on.

As it turned out the Mzee had Malaria but had decided to go home to his village after dance class rather than back to the hospital. He woke up in the night very ill and did not make it to the hospital in time. It is difficult for many Ugandans to access the healthcare facilities which are available to them, for example I heard from a research participant this week that in order to get urgent medical care in the town of Bweyale you have to drive at least 2 hours to a major city. Although the situation is less dire in the Kampala area, poor road conditions and lack of funds can also hamper access to medicine.

In the days that followed it became apparent how prominent a dancer he was, as his death gained national media attention and brought together a large portion of the dance community. It also deeply affected my friend Musa who worked closely with him as a dancer and who related to him as a relative.

And so I'm taking this opportunity to remember Mzee Kato, who contributed so much to the salsa dance community in Uganda. His contribution lives on through the large salsa dance community in KLA.